As of April 6, Trinity College London and IELTS will be the only two approved providers of Secure English Language Testing used to support UK visa applications, as part of a raft of changes to visa laws due to be laid before parliament on 26 February.

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Sqore, a Swedish startup providing online challenge-based skills testing has received $3.5m investment ahead of its full launch this Summer. The company intends to use the investment to take its tests targeting skills gaps at universities and companies world wide.

EF Education First, one of the world’s largest English language training providers, has announced it will move into standardised testing with the launch of a free online exam that aims to rival established testing brands including TOEFL and IELTS due to its scope and accessibility.

Pearson PTE Academic, the computer-based academic English language test aimed at non-native English speakers wanting to study abroad, has opened its first ever test centre in the Republic of Ireland this month.

Education giant Pearson has launched the Global Scale of English – a numeric measurement of English language proficiency. The company will begin introducing the GSE into its product lines worldwide over the next 18-24 months and aims to establish it as a universal benchmark for businesses, governments and academic institutions.

The UK Home Office’s decision to suspend the licences of 57 private colleges and circumvent international recruitment at three universities has sent shockwaves through the industry. Universities Minister, David Willetts, underlined this is “reputation-reinforcing” action as many impacted colleges are contesting the suspension.

International students entering higher education institutions in Spain no longer need to pass the country’s competitive entrance exam. Instead universities will now be responsible for creating their own admissions exams in a move that should open up Spanish HE to more global students from 2015.

Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection has recently announced that it will accept Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) and TOEFL iBT scores for a number of work visas from November 2014, including sub-classes relating to Temporary Graduates and Work and Holiday visa holders.

Plans to remove English language testing from China’s highly competitive university entrance exam will come into force a year earlier than originally planned. Students will now sit an external English exam that can be taken multiple times throughout the year as part of the university admissions process.

The Home Office’s decision to accept TOEFL scores submitted with student visa applications for exams taken prior to April 17 has helped minimise any disruption of ETS terminating its SELT licence, sources indicate. The company has now unveiled voice biometric testing as a new security layer.